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Print
Question Sheet
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Journal
My trip began
by loading onto a small vessel near the newly built Aswan High dam. I passed
crocodiles sitting on the warm shore basking in the humid autumn evening. I
saw many merchant ships carrying goods to the Mediterranean sea where the great river
empties. Before I started my quest and I did a
little research and this is what I found. In my studies I learned that the
Nile is the longest river at 4,145 miles (6,670 km). I also learned that all
great civilizations and settlements in history were usually started on or
near rivers or bodies of water. So it only made since that the Egyptians
settled here and prospered for a long time.
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Aswan High Dam |
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The Aswan High Dam was an
engineering master piece. The first dam at Aswan was built in 1889. When the
water from the reservoir, Lake Nasser, crested near the top of the dam in
1946 the true danger was revealed. After that scare the Egyptians decided it
would be better if it was placed farther up river. Finally in 1970
construction was completed and Lake Nasser (Nile reservoir) was formed. |
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Nile Advantages |
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There are many advantages
a river such as the Nile brings to the area around it. One such advantage is
that transporting goods is much easier, because when living in a place such
as Egypt which has a desert climate, the camel is the only other form of
transportation. Another advantage the Nile brought to the Egyptians is
that it floods every spring and summer. The water that floods the Nile River
Valley carries rich silt. So when the Nile floods the soil around it becomes
rich and fertilized with the silt. With this fertile soil the Egyptians grew
flax, wheat, barley and grapes. Another advantage is that the area around
the Nile is mostly desert and the sea also provides protection from foreign
invasions. So the Egyptian people felt safe. |
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